As the staff of Career Development and Calling, we're thankful to be able to assist you in your work with Bethel students.

We know this small amount of information can't fully answer every career question, so contact us if you need more info or refer your students directly to our office (CC322) to meet with a career specialist.

Choose a Major

Choosing a major is one part of the career development process. We recommend students consider a major after the first two phases, developing self-awareness and exploring career options. It may be helpful for a student to establish a target career and then figure out which major prepares them for that career.

Discuss calling: We believe God calls each of us to be faithful with our talents, whether that's as a minister or an account manager. This is a simple way to conceptualize a life of worship through working faithfully in one's vocation. Give students the opportunity to think about calling through conversations and readings in your classes or by encouraging them to to schedule a career counseling session.

Explore career options: Students can learn best about careers through job shadowing, informational interviews with alumni, and career research through O*Net.

Career assessments: Assessments point out possible career paths and industries of interest. Students can take a few different assessments through our office.

Search for a Job

Most people can find a job; it's landing the job that is difficult. Typically, the easiest way to search for jobs-looking online-is the least effective way to get hired. Working your way up in a good company or networking through informational interviews and are more effective strategies for landing a job.

Internships: While our office does not oversee internships, we hear about a lot of opportunities. They are posted in the Bethel University Online Career Center or emailed to department chairs. Working with a career specialist can help a student hear about internships that aren't posted.

Build Professional Relationships

Networking is the most effective way to find a job or internship. Students should think about networking as building professional relationships throughout their education, such as talking with family, friends, and guest speakers, having lunch with hiring managers at their internship, joining professional associations for their major, and doing informational interviews with alumni. Encourage students to be intentional about the natural relationship building opportunities they have every day.

Create an Effective Resume

We don't expect you to know the current resume standards. Instead, we think it's valuable to help students to understand that a strong resume comes through experience. Career specialists can help perfect the writing of a resume, but it's up to the students to get the experience to list on a resume. Internships, relevant part-time jobs, related volunteering, campus involvement, study abroad, and research projects are some of the ways to develop a resume that will stand out. The earlier we can convince students to gain experiences associated with the future position to which they aspire, the more attractive they will be to potential employers or graduate schools.

Prepare for an Interview

Today, most hiring managers use behavioral-based interview questions, such as, "Tell me a time that you worked well with a team." Since past behavior is a predictor of future success, students need to respond with significant stories about their related experience. We teach students and alumni the Situation, Behavior, Outcome (SBO) response method when they schedule a mock interview with a career specialist.

Consider Graduate School

As professors, most of you know grad school can be great for some, but not for everyone, at least not immediately. Students should know why they're going to grad school. If a student can't answer this with confidence, they might need a few years working in the field to clarify their career direction. They should also be well informed about the financial and time commitment their making when they enroll in grad school. Ultimately, there are many ways to advance one's career of which graduate school is one option.

Everything Else

We also help students with many other aspects of their career development. Feel free to contact our staff with your questions or request for consultation. Or simply refer students or alumni to our office.